Police investigating suicide at UI Professor's home

IOWA CITY (KWWL) -- Iowa city police are investigating a suicide at the home of a University of Iowa music professor named in a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Police responded to a suicide report Wednesday afternoon at the home of Mark Weiger. Police would not confirm if the body was that of Weiger but the Daily Iowan reports students and staff held a vigil for him Wednesday night.

Weiger was named in a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former graduate student earlier this week. Melissa Rose Walding Milligan accused Weiger of making sexual remarks and verbally harassing her while having a sexual relationship with another student during the 2006-07 school year.

The lawsuit states that the university has been aware of Weiger's alleged behavior since 1993. It states that when Milligan filed a complaint about Weiger in June 2007, the university found that he violated the school's sexual-harassment policy but reached an informal resolution with the professor. The lawsuit also names the university as a defendant.

If Weiger did kill himself, he would be the second University of Iowa professor this year to commit suicide after being accused of sexual misconduct. Arthur Miller killed himself after a student accused him of asking to fondle her in exchange for better grades. His body was discovered in August in Iowa City's Hickory Hill Park.